diff --git a/internal/cli/run.go b/internal/cli/run.go
index a8d8e6b855..2265d80659 100644
--- a/internal/cli/run.go
+++ b/internal/cli/run.go
@@ -314,26 +314,10 @@ func runAgent(agentName, fullsendDir, outputBase, targetRepo, fullsendBinary str
 	// 8. Make project code available (copy repo root into a named subdirectory).
 	copyStart := time.Now()
 	printer.StepStart("Copying project code into sandbox")
-	mkRepoCmd := fmt.Sprintf("mkdir -p %s", repoDir)
-	if _, _, _, err := sandbox.Exec(sandboxName, mkRepoCmd, 10*time.Second); err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("creating repo dir in sandbox: %w", err)
-	}
-	if err := sandbox.Upload(sandboxName, repoSrc+"/.", repoDir+"/"); err != nil {
+	if err := sandbox.UploadDir(sandboxName, repoSrc, repoDir); err != nil {
 		printer.StepFail("Failed to copy project code")
 		return fmt.Errorf("copying project code: %w", err)
 	}
-
-	// openshell upload applies .gitignore filtering by default via
-	// git ls-files, which never lists .git/. Upload it separately so the
-	// agent has full git history, refs, and branch state. Uploading .git/
-	// directly bypasses the filter because .git/ itself is not a working
-	// tree, causing openshell to fall back to an unfiltered tar upload.
-	gitDir := filepath.Join(repoSrc, ".git")
-	if fi, statErr := os.Stat(gitDir); statErr == nil && fi.IsDir() {
-		if err := sandbox.Upload(sandboxName, gitDir, filepath.Join(repoDir, ".git")); err != nil {
-			printer.StepWarn("Could not upload .git directory: " + err.Error())
-		}
-	}
 	printer.StepDone(fmt.Sprintf("Project code copied to %s/ (%.1fs)", repoName, time.Since(copyStart).Seconds()))
 
 	// 8a. Inject org-level AGENTS.md if the target repo does not have one.
diff --git a/internal/sandbox/sandbox.go b/internal/sandbox/sandbox.go
index a81e747143..4046a2db54 100644
--- a/internal/sandbox/sandbox.go
+++ b/internal/sandbox/sandbox.go
@@ -269,6 +269,39 @@ func Upload(sandboxName, localPath, remotePath string) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+// UploadDir uploads a local directory into a sandbox, preserving symlinks.
+// openshell sandbox upload dereferences symlinks; this builds a local tarball
+// with --no-dereference, uploads it, and extracts it in the sandbox.
+func UploadDir(sandboxName, localPath, remotePath string) error {
+	tmp, err := os.CreateTemp("", "openshell-upload-*.tar.gz")
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("creating temp tarball: %w", err)
+	}
+	tmpPath := tmp.Name()
+	tmp.Close()
+	defer os.Remove(tmpPath)
+
+	tarCmd := exec.Command("tar", "-czf", tmpPath, "-C", localPath, ".")
+	if out, tarErr := tarCmd.CombinedOutput(); tarErr != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("creating tarball of %q: %s: %w", localPath, string(out), tarErr)
+	}
+
+	remoteTar := fmt.Sprintf("/tmp/fs-upload-%s.tar.gz", sandboxName)
+	if err := Upload(sandboxName, tmpPath, remoteTar); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	extractCmd := fmt.Sprintf("mkdir -p %s && tar -xzf %s -C %s && rm %s", remotePath, remoteTar, remotePath, remoteTar)
+	_, stderr, exitCode, err := Exec(sandboxName, extractCmd, transferTimeout)
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("extracting tarball in sandbox %q: %w", sandboxName, err)
+	}
+	if exitCode != 0 {
+		return fmt.Errorf("extracting tarball in sandbox %q: exit %d: %s", sandboxName, exitCode, stderr)
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
 // Download copies a file or directory from a sandbox to the local machine.
 // The localPath is always treated as a directory by openshell — for single-file
 // downloads use DownloadFile instead.
diff --git a/internal/sandbox/sandbox_test.go b/internal/sandbox/sandbox_test.go
index e62db23768..17e15c716e 100644
--- a/internal/sandbox/sandbox_test.go
+++ b/internal/sandbox/sandbox_test.go
@@ -244,3 +244,11 @@ func TestSanitizeDownload_EmptyDir(t *testing.T) {
 	err := sanitizeDownload(dir)
 	assert.NoError(t, err)
 }
+
+func TestUploadDir_OpenshellNotInPath(t *testing.T) {
+	dir := t.TempDir()
+	t.Setenv("PATH", "")
+
+	err := UploadDir("test-sandbox", dir, "/tmp/workspace/repo")
+	assert.Error(t, err)
+}